Ye Yun did not know that Shi Hao was praying for the Willow Deity's protection when the latter was almost discovered by Suan Ni.
Suan Ni and the flying mighty beast attacked and retreated in cycles. Not long after, the flying mighty beast was defeated. Suan Ni opened its mouth and bit into its victim's head. The huge corpse fell from the sky onto the ground with a deafening crash. Dust flew everywhere as the ground caved in and formed a lake-sized pit with countless cracks.
Suan Ni landed on another end of the lake. Its golden eyes sized up the other two mighty beasts with a flash of ruthlessness. It wanted to fight even more.
No one in this world had the right to have designs on the mighty Suan Ni! If they wanted to, then they would have to confront it head-on! This was the dignity and pride an ancient descendant had to uphold.
——
The battle between Suan Ni and the three mighty beasts felt like it went on forever but it only took twenty-five minutes.
Even so, Ye Yun was quite satisfied with what he had just witnessed.
When the battle reached its end, he would be able to cultivate in peace.
As for Suan Ni, it had experienced the triumph of defeating other mighty beasts, even the ancient divine beast Bai Ze. But ultimately, Suan Ni was also already standing at death's door. His energy had been continuously flowing away. He had been trying his best to hold on, but it was to no avail. His body trembled and his limbs buckled. Suan Ni took a final deep breath and laid itself to rest by the lake.
The desolate beasts were still afraid to return and approach the lake, despite the battle being over.
Only the flying desolate beasts in the sky were unwilling to leave. They had been circling the area from the skies, waiting for an opportunity to tear apart Suan Ni's carcass.
Secret treasures, blood essence, and flesh were scattered all around the lake. Shi Hao was extremely appalled by the scene. But he also felt that this whole thing had been a pity.
The humans had also been watching from a safe distance in their own hiding places for a long time. But they could not hold back anymore and they fought to be the first to arrive at the scene. Ye Yun witnessed the scramble and thought how meaningless all of this was.
He had initially planned to stop using his Clairvoyance and resume his cultivation.
But then he noticed that the villagers of Stone Village had also joined in the scramble. The mother Green Scaled Eagle was also charging down from the sky with a small figure in tow.
Ye Yun was dumbfounded to see Shi Hao joining in because the former knew that the current human battle was not any less dangerous than Suan Ni's earlier one. Ye Yun did not want to see anyone from Stone Village dying.
Eventually, the sky started to turn dark as day turned to night. Though the darkness had arrived, the bright moon illuminated the lake.
And despite the descent of night, the Qi flow around the lake was still vigorous and chaotic.
No one wanted to travel back in the dark but this was a special situation - they had blood essence, mighty beast meat, and special treasures to harvest and return with, after all.
Sorrowful cries of the injured and the sounds of clashing weapons rang out, seemingly out of place around the calm lake and clear forest.
Ye Yun shook his head and tried to convince himself to return and cultivate.
At this moment, the system's mechanical notification echoed in his ears.
[Beep beep, the host has triggered a check-in. Do you wish to check in?]
Ye Yun was initially startled but quickly became excited! He had been waiting for this for a long time!
Ye Yun had been pretty unexpectant of the system lately, aside from the occasional comments of dissatisfaction toward it.
But he had suspected that the system's check-in could be triggered based on his thoughts, actions, and current situation. Normally, if Ye Yun thought of something, the system would be able to detect it and release a check-in accordingly.
Based on this theory, Ye Yun had been studying the previous check-ins and would discover the underlying principles of when and how they were triggered. However, the rewards given by the system were really random. Ye Yun was currently unable to determine the reward pattern if there was any.
And to avoid his prying from getting detected by the system, Ye Yun would only think of these things after he entered a meditative state.
He realized that once he started cultivating, the system could not detect his thoughts.
"Check in!"
[Today's check-in has been completed. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Shu Shan Sword Method, a sword control technique!]
[Cultivation method description: The Shu Shan Sword Method is a sword control technique developed by the disciple, Wine Sword Immortal. This technique can be used to control the sword to cut through anything and has the potential to destroy the world!]
The system was oblivious to how far and how much Ye Yun had analyzed its working principles as it rewarded him.
"Wine Sword Immortal's Shu Shan Sword Method!" Ye Yun was overjoyed by what he had just received as he took a deep breath to contain his excitement.
After all this waiting, Ye Yun had finally received something worthwhile.
Ye Yun quickly calmed his emotions and began to study the Shu Shan Sword Method.
In a blink of an eye, he had already comprehended it.
The system helped him visualize how he could utilize the sword control technique - he ride through the sword and cut through the sky. With a slash, he could not only conquer all magical beasts but also travel freely. How cool was that?
Ye Yun's body started to tremble from excitement.
The Art of the Nine Revolutions Essence activated automatically and his soul became stronger.
Ye Yun, the blade of grass, then started to become surrounded by a faintly discernible sword Qi that was as sharp as knives as it sliced through the air when the wind blew past.
The sword Qi intensified around Ye Yun and shot straight into the sky.
The ancient willow tree suddenly became surrounded by specks of green light coming from the blade of grass right next to it.
Then, the specks of the blade of grass's green light disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
It was as if the previous scene was just a dream.
However, Ye Yun knew that he had fully grasped the Shu Shan Sword Method.
He excitedly checked his attributes.
[Host: Ye Yun
Identity: Nine Heavens Jasper Grass
Status: Early Growth
Item: Sacrifice Acceptance Ability (can be accumulated), Art of Nine Revolutions Essence, Breath Concealing Technique, Shu Shan Sword Method
Influence: 2
Grade: Ordinary Rank 8
Ability: Divine Healing, Sacrifice Acceptance Ability (to heal others), Sword Control Attack, Sword Qi Slicer]
Wow, who would have thought he would be able to break through in his cultivation after obtaining the sword technique today? Now that he was at Rank 8, he would definitely be able to reach the Mystic tier within a few days.
Ye Yun had a moment's thought, then decided to activate his Clairvoyance to return to the scene by the lake in the mountain forest. He was not just a simple blade of grass anymore. He could fight now! It was hard to contain his excitement to try out his newly-obtained sword control technique, the Shu Shan Sword Method.
If he could also gain something new during a fight, that would be amazing!